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09-22-2021, 11:05 PM | #1 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Canada
Posts: 164
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36 years old... literally yelled NOO when I geared up my lucky find of a complete firefly.. only to hear the click of the gun going into his left hand and realizing it was his thumb snapping off...
Moment of silence... hoping for a support group... lol But seriously.. I returned to joe collecting after 10 years (realized 25th doesn't do it for me) and back in the game for my own display... hunting deals.. but between weak plastic, missing parts, yellowing... this is HARD. One new thing I found out about was elbow cracks... seriously!? How do you all manage? Now I have to buy some overpriced ebay FF to get a new arm.. anyway tried ranting to my wife and she looked at me like I have two heads, so im here lol |
09-22-2021, 11:29 PM | #2 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: TN
Posts: 214
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I can sympathize. Whenever I get a vintage figure added to my collection, I disassemble them, remove the screws & T-bar, and give the parts a scrub in warm water and dish detergent. Re-assembly generally goes fine and I install a new O-ring at the same time.
Except for my v1 Firefly. This little twit broke his crotch when I was putting him back together...the only figure I've had out of about 200 that broke his crotch during reassembly. I just ended up shopping for gear-less Firefly, swapped out the crotches, and resold the one with a broken crotch. I managed to break even but it still sucks when it happens. As for the rest, cracked elbows don't bother me as long as the joint is intact (i.e. not missing a hunk of the elbow). If I can afford to be choosy, I skip the broken elbows but it's not a deal breaker. Always check to make sure your potential purchase has both thumbs and their crotch, and NEVER blindly trust when someone says something is "complete" without verifying it yourself. Brittle plastic tends to affect the 82-84 years more than any other, so be careful with those in particular. I literally had an 83 Steeler explode when shipped cross country in a bubble mailer...every limb suffered some kind of breakage. I also had an '82 Scarlett's screw post in her chest completely shatter during re-assembly, and I think a couple of broken knees from those years. Best of luck in your hunt! |
09-23-2021, 12:42 AM | #3 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Secret underground complex
Posts: 7,025
|
Quote:
I can sympathize. Whenever I get a vintage figure added to my collection, I disassemble them, remove the screws & T-bar, and give the parts a scrub in warm water and dish detergent. Re-assembly generally goes fine and I install a new O-ring at the same time.
Except for my v1 Firefly. This little twit broke his crotch when I was putting him back together...the only figure I've had out of about 200 that broke his crotch during reassembly. I just ended up shopping for gear-less Firefly, swapped out the crotches, and resold the one with a broken crotch. I managed to break even but it still sucks when it happens. As for the rest, cracked elbows don't bother me as long as the joint is intact (i.e. not missing a hunk of the elbow). If I can afford to be choosy, I skip the broken elbows but it's not a deal breaker. Always check to make sure your potential purchase has both thumbs and their crotch, and NEVER blindly trust when someone says something is "complete" without verifying it yourself. Brittle plastic tends to affect the 82-84 years more than any other, so be careful with those in particular. I literally had an 83 Steeler explode when shipped cross country in a bubble mailer...every limb suffered some kind of breakage. I also had an '82 Scarlett's screw post in her chest completely shatter during re-assembly, and I think a couple of broken knees from those years. Best of luck in your hunt! Zartan will explode on you if you aren’t careful as well. |
09-23-2021, 01:36 AM | #4 |
Mauler pool
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Usa
Posts: 108
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I feel you.
Serpentor v1 is like a golden cracker. Anything pre-1984 can be very brittle. But... cheer up. they made MILLIONS of these figs. somewhere, that fig you want is sitting around ... one with less UV exposure , one with a little more plasticizer than the others. they do not have to cost an arm and a leg. I did notice the joes I bought from the west coast, and shipped to Europe. Stored in a cold attic for a few years... ended more brittle than the figs who stayed in the west coast. the yellowing is brutal. one sunny day in the pool and it happens. We have to see these things for what they are. 30 to 40 years old toys. do you remember as a kid the toys of your older cousins? cars with white tires, dry rotted rubber? like everything, it shall pass. enjoy what you can, while you can. and shame on a manufacturer not releasing proper reissues. big rant again. Again, cheer up.. somewhere, some figs are laying around with decent plasticizer levels. I use ABS solvent to re-weld broken parts. Shattered arms, torsos crotches, knees, etc.. make sure you retrieve every single sliver ! the elbows are more like some kind of nylon or polycarbonate, so it does not glue or fuse. old motorized toys from the 80s also have this issue of cracking over age. motor pinion gear cracking because it was press-fitted on a metal shaft. here is where those loose elbow joints can save the fig for another decade... some plastic pigments really weaken the plastic over time. serpentor gold metallic is a prime example. A cracked leg or torso boss can be reconstructed with solvent. i use a thin brush, weld it together and let it dry for a few days. Take a bit of practice but once you get the hang of it it's easy peasy. I also like to loosen the joints , rather than having them seize. just minimal friction so they can hold a pose. i see a lot of sellers are injecting tiny amount of cyano glue inside the joints to make them stiff. fake tight joints that end up seizing eventually. super glue/cyano is acrylic when dry. I abhor that stuff. I am also having a lot of bad luck when getting vehicles from Florida for example. plastic dried and brittle. Not all the plastic pellets used when molding these were equal. And each fig has travelled, lived and was exposed in different environments. i see the difference of the figs over the past decades. they are definitely aging. it might be even more interesting in the next decades.. i have also experienced metal T bbars ddisintegrating llike a biscuit in some figs that were sealed !! the modern stuff does not do it for me either! as for missing parts, I am trying to place myself in the mood we would have as kids... if you were to stumble upon/ find that fig somewhere, incomplete... would you still be happy to have it? as a kid, many of the cool figs i did not have or buy myself were very mysterious, especially when a friend had it and would trade it to me. these were mostly incomplete, and yet it was exciting to have it... make its own accessories etc..
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https://www.thingiverse.com/joemaulerworks/designs https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9v...EXM27HQ/videos https://grabcad.com/library/1980s-to...m-suspension-1 Last edited by Joecollection18; 09-23-2021 at 01:42 AM.. |
09-23-2021, 01:57 AM | #5 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Brooklyn NY!
Posts: 5,239
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I feel you bro. I did the same thing to my straight arm Steeler (guess how much he costs) equipping the Uzi for a photo shoot. I had just completed and fully restored my 82 line up! Boom, back to the drawing board. Took me a year of hunting to find a banged up S.A. Steeler at a good price with one really nice replacement arm to cannibalize. I don't equip the weapons any more.
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Visit my vintage Joe restoration page! https://www.flickr.com/photos/131988164@N07/albums Cross Country's super smooth feedback thread. http://www.hisstank.com/forum/buy-se...ml#post4456308 Currently available Hasbro items. PM me for your prices (DO NOT be discouraged by the listing prices) https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_dkr...nirtoys&_oac=1 |
09-23-2021, 02:23 AM | #6 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Canada
Posts: 164
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Quote:
I feel you bro. I did the same thing to my straight arm Steeler (guess how much he costs) equipping the Uzi for a photo shoot. I had just completed and fully restored my 82 line up! Boom, back to the drawing board. Took me a year of hunting to find a banged up S.A. Steeler at a good price with one really nice replacement arm to cannibalize. I don't equip the weapons any more.
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09-23-2021, 04:20 AM | #7 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Arizona
Posts: 764
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Quote:
Next year, the 1982 figures will be 40 years old! And all the figures from 1994 will be 28 years old. Hard to believe! Here's hoping that Hasbro will have some awesome stuff to reveal for the 40th anniversary. |
09-23-2021, 08:11 AM | #8 |
Porkchop Sandwiches!
Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: Tampa, FL
Posts: 806
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Quote:
as for missing parts, I am trying to place myself in the mood we would have as kids... if you were to stumble upon/ find that fig somewhere, incomplete... would you still be happy to have it?
as a kid, many of the cool figs i did not have or buy myself were very mysterious, especially when a friend had it and would trade it to me. these were mostly incomplete, and yet it was exciting to have it... make its own accessories etc.. |
09-23-2021, 09:55 AM | #9 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: sitting in my tin can far above the world
Posts: 3,929
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I had a moment like this about 6 or 7 years ago. It was around then I decided to display all of my figures. Zap, who I had looked for for yeaaarrs to find a good version of, bombed off of the shelf and hit the floor. When I picked him up he was without a thumb. I had to make a decision then to continue setting up the display or throwing everything back in the box.
I continued with the display and don't regret my decision. I figured (no pun intended) the reason for me collecting all this stuff was to someday have a display of joes, and someday is now. If not now then when? If they were to go back in the box I may as well just sell them off and be done. There have been a couple mishaps since and there will probably be more, but overall the positive outweighs the negative. I will say several figures cradle their guns in their arms now instead of in their hands. Some of those gun handles are just too big for my comfort, lol. My advice is to enjoy what you can while you can and try to focus on the overall fun of the collection over the unavoidable things that break sometimes. None of us, even our toys, are getting any younger.
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09-23-2021, 10:58 AM | #10 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Michigan
Posts: 2,345
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I got my son a v1 Roadblock and the crotch has busted off so many times. I keep using Plastic Surgery to glue it back on but with this last instance, I also gave him a *slightly* looser o-ring which I think helps to not apply so much pressure to the crotch area when his legs move forward.
I always get that sinking feeling when a crotch or a thumb shoots off. It is saddening to know these toys won't live forever but I never expected them to. At least the plastic will live on! I wonder where all this plastic will go when I'm dead...
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